


5 Times Someone Gives Caleb a Book +1 Time He Gave a Book to Someone Else

by conceptstage



Series: Single Chapter Critical Role [72]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 19:23:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17873330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptstage/pseuds/conceptstage
Summary: What it says on the tin.





	5 Times Someone Gives Caleb a Book +1 Time He Gave a Book to Someone Else

1 Nott

Caleb brought the stack of books up to the counter. The clerk gave him an annoyed look as he say down his newspaper but he gave the books a looksee.

“How much for these please?” Caleb said, hoping he had enough.

The clerk hummed. “Twenty five gold for the lot.”

Caleb frowned and looked at the stack of books with a sigh. He took a book off the top and set it off to the side. “And now?”

The clerk raised an eyebrow. “Twenty three gold.”

Caleb removed another book and sat it on top of the other. “And now?”

The clerk rolled his eyes. “Eighteen gold. Look, man, how much you got? I’ll tell you what you can get for that.”

“I have thirteen gold.”

Caleb left the store with one book. He looked at the list in his hand and frowned. It would take a long time to get them all. He sighed and walked back to the tavern. Most of the Nein was sitting around the table eating dinner and Beau was on the other side of the room yelling at a guy who’d whistled at Jester and challenging him to a fist fight. Jester was cheering her on from the bar. Caleb ignored them and slid onto the bench next to Nott.

“How did shopping go?” she asked, taking a bit of the slab of pork on her plate.

Caleb waved his single book around and showed her the single name checked off his list. “Just one today. I got some ideas about how much all these cost so I can save up, but still.”

“Do you need money? I have money you can have.”

He smiled softly and ruffled her hair. “Danke Liebling, but it’s fine. I can’t rely on you all the time.”

“Yes you can.”

“I shouldn’t. You won’t always be able to buy my books for me.”

Beau came over them and grinned, wiping blood off her lip with the back of her hand. She took a seat next to Fjord and Jester sat on her other side. “That guy was a wimp.”

Caleb went to sleep a few hours later and woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the window sliding closed. “Nott?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep.

“It’s me,” she said. There was a weight on the bed next to him and he slowly opened his eyes. Books. All the books he’d tried to buy that morning were stacked on the bed beside him. He shifted to look over them at Nott and then all tumbled over, hitting his chest and pooling on the bedside him. 

“Nott? Did you-”

“I left some money,” she said, waving his list to show him that they were all checked off.

“You didn’t know how much they cost.”

“I didn’t say I left enough money.”

Caleb huffed but smiled and moved the books to sit on the floor. He held out his arms and she grinned, then climbed up into the bed with him to press against his chest. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“You’re welcome. I love you.”

“Ich liebe dich, Nott the Brave.”

 

2 Jester

Jester hummed she sorted through the papers on the dead governor's desk. All the papers sitting on top were from other people, nothing with his handwriting. She huffed and started pulling on his desk drawers. All but one were locked. She tugged the unlocked one open and looked inside. There was a book.

A diary? A ledger?

She pulled it out but it was just a book. She started to put it back, but paused. Caleb liked books. With a huff, she sat down in the fancy chair and flipped it open to the first page. She was bored within the first two paragraphs, Caleb would love it. She put it in her bag and started busting open the locked drawers.

When she found the handwriting sample she needed, she stuffed it into her pocket and started to leave the office. She found the others down the hall turning over the sitting room. “Found it!” she said. Everyone made various noises of greeting and went back to the search.

She made a beeline to where Caleb was looking over the bookshelf on the wall. She hovered beside him, bouncing on her toes and waiting for his attention. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Yes, Blaubeere? Do you need something?”

She grinned and pulled out the book she’d found in the office. “This was in his desk. Would you like it?”

He turned, interested, and took the book gently from her hands. He hummed at the author’s name on the cover but there was no title. He flipped to the first page and read to about the point where she got bored and his eyes widened. “Ah, mein Gott. Do you.. Do you know what this is?”

She shrugged. “Not a clue. Do you like it?”

He reached out to her and hugged her briefly, then pulled away and threw himself into a nearby armchair. “Danke, Jester. This is exactly what I need.”

She grinned and did a proud little dance as she walked over to Fjord to help him look through the chest by the window.

 

3 Caduceus

Caduceus shifted awkwardly outside the door to the room Caleb and Nott shared at the inn. He knew that Caleb was alone in there because Nott was bar hopping with the girls to celebrate Jester’s birthday. He hesitated but reached up and knocked gently on the door.

“Komm herein,” Caleb’s voice called sleepily.

Caduceus pushed open the door and peeked inside. “Ah, you’re about to sleep,” he said, spotting Caleb sitting up in his bed. “I won’t bother you.”

“Nein, nein, come in. I will be up reading for a few hours now. What do you need, Herr Clay?”

“Actually…” He held up the book that Caleb had given to him. “It’s about this book.”

Caleb looked interested and pulled back the blanket to make room for the firbolg to sit down. “Come sit down, what’s your question. Did it help you?”

“Well, I’m sure that it’s very helpful. But the truth is… I cannot read very well. There are many words and concepts in here that I am not familiar with. I thought... Perhaps you could read it, just whenever you want to or have the time, and then you could tell me what it says.”

Caleb didn’t look put out or annoyed like Caduceus had thought he would. “Wirklich? Come sit, we can discuss the problems you’re having.”

Caduceus hesitated but moved over to sit beside him on the bed. “You’ll help me?”

“Certainly. What’s the first word you're having trouble with?” Caduceus pointed to the cover and Caleb cleared his throat. “Horticulture,” Caleb read. “It means the practice of cultivating a garden. I understand you’re issue with that one, that’s not a common word. What next?”

Caduceus flipped open the book and pointed to the first two words on the first page. “ ‘For my-’ ” he paused and pointed to the third.

“ ‘sweetheart’ . It’s the dedication, the author is thanking the person they love for their support.”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” he said, then he flipped to the next page. “ ‘The art and-’ ”

“ ‘-practice of-’...” He paused when he saw complete bewilderment on the large man’s face. “Perhaps… I’m happy to teach you to read, my friend, but perhaps we should start with an easier book? I’ll see what the local book store has and we can work on it over time. For now, I will keep this, yes? And then some day you will read it on your own.”

Caduceus looked relieved and moved to stand. “Thank you, Mr. Caleb. I appreciate that.”

“It is no trouble.”

4 Yasha

Yasha walked up to where Caleb was sitting on the back of the cart and handed him a book. “Ah, Danke,” he said. “What is it?”

“A book,” she said, like she thought it was obvious. Then she turned and left.

Caleb opened his mouth to ask another question, but then sighed and flipped to the first page.

 

5 Molly

Caleb frowned at the pile of stuff sitting in the middle of the bedroom. “What did you do that for?”

Jester started rooting through the pile that she’d just turned out of the haversack. “I’m looking for something.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t you just ask the bag for it? It’s enchanted.”

“Well, yeah, but I forgot what it was.”

“You’re looking for something but you forgot what it was?”

“Yeah.”

“Then how do you know to look for it?”

“Because I need it.”

Caleb sighed and sat down on the bed. There was a book with a red cover and gold leaf designs sitting near the bottom of the pile and frowned. What book was that? It wasn’t one of his. He reached forward and picked it up. There was no title or author’s name on the cover so he flipped over to the title page. A slip of paper fell out into his lap. 

‘To Caleb’ was written in messy handwriting. Caleb recognized that handwriting.

“Is this Molly’s?” he asked.

Jester looked up and squinted at it. “I think so. He bought it for you when we went shopping in that swamp town. And then we got kidnapped and he got stabbed, so I guess he never gave it to you.”

Caleb smiled slightly and started flipping through the pages. “Can I have it?”

“Of course you can have it! This guy, can I have it, it’s yours. Molly bought it for you. Oh yeah! I sold that thing I need! Damn it! Beau, we need to go shopping!” She got to her feet and left the pile of things in the floor as she left the room. 

“For what?” called Beau’s voice down the hall.

“I don’t know! I’ll know it when I see it!”

Caleb cleared his throat and got comfortable on the bed to begin reading the book.

 

+1 Beau

“Excuse me, Beauregard?”

Beau paused mid sit up and tipped her head back to look at Caleb standing behind her. “Yeah?”

“I- Uh… I got you something.”

She watched him suspiciously and spun around in the dirt to face and look up at him. “Why?”

“Do I need a reason to be nice to you?”

“I’ve never known you to do anything without a reason.”

“That is… a very fair point. Well, I suppose I do have a reason. Here.” He held out a book towards her. 

She raised an eyebrow but gently took it from his hand, looking over the green cover. “ ‘How to Become a More Effective Communicator’ “ She snorted in amusement and looked back up at him. “You think a book is gonna help me?”

He shrugged. “It certainly could not hurt.”

She hummed thoughtfully and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I couldn’t get any worse. Thanks. I look forward to having riveting conversations with you in the future.”

Caleb turned to leave. “I wouldn't go that far. It’s a book, not a miracle worker.”

“Fuck you!” Beau called, but she was laughing good naturedly. When he turned back to look at her as he sat down next to Nott at the fire, she had the book in one hand to read as she did one handed pull ups.


End file.
